300 VALUE OF SALMON AND SHEEP. 



fry of sea-fish, tell us jDlainly of the vast quantities of 

 salmon food that is bred in the great mud and sand fiats 

 which form the estuary of the Severn, and upon which 

 not only the Severn, hut also the Wye and the Usk, 

 *' water sheep " pasture. 



This big G41bs. salmon from the Tay was sold at three 

 shillings a pound. The total \alue, therefore, of the 

 "beast" was £9 12s., or about the cost of three ordinary 

 sheep. 



To bring sheep into a ^Droper condition a certain 

 amount of capital must be laid out for attendance, 

 shelter, and food. The salmon requires nothing at all 

 from the hands of men except to be protected at certain 

 times of the year. 



Thus it will be seen that " salmon farms *' may be 

 made quite as profitable, if not more so, than sheep 

 farms, provided always the farmer knows his business ; 

 which, like many important matters, is often exceedingly 

 simple, but requires constant care, special powers of 

 observation, and, above all, the understanding of the 

 unspoken language of the salmon themselves. 



POWER OF SMELL IN SA.LMON. 



Instinct, of course, has much to do in guiding salmon 

 back to their own rivers, but, at the same time, I think 

 that their power of smell is of great service to them in 

 finding their way in the ocean. There is a part of the 

 physical organism of a salmon which, I think, has not 

 as yet been sufficiently noticed by those who study its 

 habits, periods of migration, &c. In many terrestrial 

 animals the organs of smell perform most important 

 duties ; why should these organs not be equally im- 

 portant in fishes ? Upon the front part of the snout of 

 the salmon will be seen on each side an opening, 



